title: Association between effective dose of prednisolone, alone or in conjunction with other immunosuppressants, and titre of anti-bullous pemphigoid 180 antibody: a retrospective study of 42 cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Corticosteroids, especially prednisolone or prednisone, are the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of bullous pemphigoid (BP). However, the appropriate initial effective prednisolone dose has not been established. Recently, a highly sensitive and specific ELISA for detection of autoantibodies to the non-collagenous extracellular domain (NC16A) of the 180 kDa transmembrane hemidesmosome component [bullous pemphigoid (BP)180] was developed, and the titre of anti-BP180 antibody was found to be closely related to disease activity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between anti-BP180 antibody titre and effective prednisolone dose alone or in conjunction with other immunosuppressants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anti-BP180 antibody titres were measured by ELISA for the NC16A domain of BP180 in the sera of patients with BP (n = 42) at the start of treatment. The effective prednisolone dose was calculated from the patients' records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher anti-BP180 antibody titres correlated with a higher effective prednisolone dose. In particular, patients with antibody titres > 200 required a significantly higher effective prednisolone dose than did those with antibody titres ≤ 200.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A higher effective prednisolone dose may be necessary for patients who have both a high titre of anti-BP180 antibody and severe clinical disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Chuo-Ku, Niigata, Japan. hiromii@cameo.plala.or.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miida
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D024041:Non-Fibrillar Collagens / Q000276:immunology*; D010391:Pemphigoid, Bullous / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000097805:Collagen Type XVII
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D015415:Biomarkers; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D024041:Non-Fibrillar Collagens; D011239:Prednisolone; D000097805:Collagen Type XVII